Network gateways, such as WIFI routers, are now found in many households. Network gateways used in personal environments, such as homes, are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Home network gateways provide WIFI and other network connectivity to nearby users (e.g., users located within the range of a home WIFI or Bluetooth network, and users connected to another type of home local area network) and implement firewall and monitoring policies. The complexity of network gateways continues to grow as their capabilities and the number of devices to which they provide network access keeps growing.
Users who own these network gateways have varied levels of skill with respect to controlling these devices, and often do not have the knowledge and/or the inclination to perform the recommended setup for the devices. Improper configuration or management of these gateways can lead to poor user experiences, poor quality of service of the various network services made available through the gateway, and security and other risks associated with unauthorized access to the gateway or the associated network connections.
Typically, an owner of a network gateway would be prompted for a login identifier and password when attempting to access or configure the gateway. Owners often use different login identifiers and passwords for each device and service that requires the input of such authenticating information. Having many such different login identifiers and passwords that must somehow be recalled when access is needed to devices or services may be a burden upon the owners.
The burdens placed upon the owner to configure and manage the gateway can result in inconvenience to the owner, as well as lead to poor performance of network services and security risks due to improper configuration. Therefore, it is desired to provide for the configuration and control of network gateways in more user-friendly and more reliable ways.